NUKG Monthly: BlueDollarBillz Is UK Garage's Silent Tastemaker

New Wave Magazine writer Nathan Evans's UK garage and club music column covers the latest songs, remixes, bootlegs, mixes and albums that capture his attention.

Photo credit: BlueDollarBillz / Plot 45

An Interview with UK Garage’s Silent Tastemaker BlueDollarBillz

Starting as a YouTube channel posting grime dubplates, BlueDollarBillz is now one of the biggest silent tastemakers in the UK garage scene. Their YouTube, Instagram and Soundcloud channels are havens for quality garage, techno, breaks and grime, much of which you’ll likely not have heard before.

BDB has built a community around the dance music they love with an active Discord community posting tons of new music on the daily. Now, BDB has released their first compilation, the two-part Blue Tape, which brings together original tracks from their favourite producers, including Frazer Ray, Main Phase, Skeptic and S T I N 9. It’s the most essential pack of 2step, speedy g, 4x4 and bumpy garage you’ll need in 2023, and BlueDollarBillz answered questions on Discord about the new tape and the state of UKG right now.

You originally started BDB as a hip-hop channel, what made you pivot to club styles?

The BDB Youtube channel started off solely as a grime channel. I was posting a lot of dubplate stuff so most of it was lost to time or people hadn’t heard it before. I forget the year but I then went on to make BlueDollarGrillz as a UKG channel but I haven’t posted on there in years lol.

I’ve always been into various genres of music from a kid - I used to go to loads of hardcore shows in my teens so my influences come from all over. It came to a point where I felt like there was a lot more to showcase than just grime.

Everything I post is a reflection of what I like personally, it’s not just a free-for-all where I post things that others may or will like. It has to be something that I’d listen to.

The Blue Tape is a big comp that spans nearly two hours. Did you intend that to be the length when you set out on making it?

Not necessarily. I did think we had to start off the releases with a bang though! Each and every artist on the compilation is doing great things and I've been a fan of their music for a while, so it was great to have them all involved.

Was there a specific brief you had for the artists on this comp?

I’ve been posting a lot of UK garage, breaks and UK techno on YouTube and Insta so I suppose it was anything that fitted that sound. There was no specific brief, it just so happens that each artist on the compilation represents those sounds in some way.

DJ Plot 45 designed the artwork and it turned out brilliantly. Why did you decide to go with them?

Plot 45 is my guy, he does all the artwork for BDB. This includes the logo, the mascot, the mix series, the BDB Discord Selects and so on. He’s very talented and his work ranges across a whole spectrum of design and graphics, so massive shout out to Plot 45 always!

What do you look for in a garage tune?

UK garage is probably my favourite genre of all time so I like all the styles: 4x4 or speed garage for when you want to have a good skank out, 2step vocals for when you want to have a good sing-along, and so on. I’m a massive fan of the bumpy side of UK garage and I don’t think there are enough people out there making it. It had a good run in the 2000s but I also feel like that was the most slept-on era, which is a shame. So many gems that you can find on Discogs for a few quid.

Do you think the UKG scene has become more localised or less localised over the past few years?

Over the past few years, the sound seems to have travelled the world which is a massive plus. You can hear the influence in the tracks from certain countries so it puts a good spin on the sound.

Do you think the dub siren is overused?

Personally, yes. But if the track is good then so be it. As long as people respect the roots of the music where it originated from then I think it’s fine.

What is the best city for UKG?

I don’t think there is a specific best city for UKG but the two biggest are probably London & Bristol. Loads of good stuff coming out of Bristol at the moment from all genres of music, seems to be the place to be if you want to be surrounded by like-minded individuals.

Who do you think is doing creative things with UKG right now?

I think as a whole, the genre is quite samey samey currently with a lot of people going for the same sound or replicating what others are making. Speed garage has definitely had its fair share of bootlegs and edits that almost have the same beat pattern which I feel is diluting the genre slightly. Not to say there aren’t any good ones as there are loads of percys to buy or even download on Soundcloud.

I’m going to flip the question slightly and mention the current UK techno wave. I love the sound as it brings a fresh and unique take to the table and it seems to incorporate a lot of 2step rhythms in it, so it gets my vote.

You’ve got an active Discord already, but does this comp mark the start of something bigger for BDB?

It’s probably been just over a year or so since I started actually branching out the BDB name properly. The compilation was a way of giving back to the community and the supporters so there will definitely be more releases coming in the future.

A lot of people seem to think it’s a “UKG server” but it just so happens that a lot of people there like UKG but it’s a free-for-all. I wanted to give people a safe space to discuss music amongst other things in an environment where there is no judgement and you can post whatever types of music you like. Tap into the BlueDollarBillz Discord server here.

HÖR Berlin’s UK Takeover

Throughout April, HÖR Berlin has set up a pop-up studio in London to welcome a club night’s worth of UK DJs every day. We got to see Vanessa Maria (who got the super extra coveted Mix of the Month accolade earlier this year), Jam City’s cloudy palette with sidechained female vocals, as well as an all-vinyl dark garage session from Riz La Teef. Elsewhere, black-belt mixmaster Neffa-T partnered with the flow father Flowdan for a half-mix, half-MC hour of dub, green-acid bass, jungle, reggae knock-backs, 2step and frosty drill.

From a massive lineup, the best high point came from UKG stalwart Jeremy Sylvester, whose mix plays like a vintage comp from Locked On Records. Putting classic piano house in a washing machine on the regular, he spins a mix of gooey jazz chords, peppered bounces and diva house that refrains from the shouty voices that overpopulate modern house’s vocal section. Rather, you get London soul vocals and the casual excellence of a DJ who’s been crossing these tracks together for years, served with a knowing and satisfied smile at the end.

Mix of the Month: CCL - Cape Fear: A Trip to the Darkside of UKG

No DJ mix has made me watch a Scorsese thriller before listening.

Germany’s CCL has pieced together a concept dark garage mix based on the 1991 thriller Cape Fear, and it conquers the ultimate feat of pulling off a concept while not sacrificing the dancefloor. The music often mimics the characteristics of the film’s titular river - its unpredictable waves, rocky underbelly and thunderous crashes - all under the rhythmic thumb of dark garage and UK bass. Weaving in dialogue and string crescendos from the soundtrack, it equals a mix that has the underlying dread of an unbeatable force stalking you at a slowly-increasing pace, with dub shimmers that create an unsettling vibe and Carpenter-esque atmosphere shifts that raise bumps on your skin.

Naturally, CCL includes Sticky & Ms Dynamite’s ‘Booo!’ and KMA Productions' ‘Cape Fear’. There’s so much more room for concept mixes such as these in UKG, and this could well be the Mix of the Year when 2023 has been and gone.

salute - Shield EP

The plaudits have been coming more and more for Vienna-born, Manchester-raised producer salute since he found a formula that pairs garage with the deft touch of French house and pop music maximalism. From Condition onwards, you can hear a chain link in their music that stretches back to Rustie’s Glass Swords, back to Daft Punk’s Discovery, back to Todd Edwards’ Prima Edizione.

Between the synth splashes and Taite Imogen’s unfurling vocals on ‘Wait For It’, and the serene key changes on the harmony-heavy ‘Peach’ with Sammy Virji, Shield is more temperate and warrants more horizontal listening. Sonic experiments like ‘Peach’ see salute ease off on the kaleidoscopic breakdowns they’ve become known for recently, and the EP benefits from it.

Shield also top-and-tails tracks with connections to monolith pop label Dirty Hit. ‘Run Away With You’ with No Rome is the most high-octane with its trampolining bassline and diced vocal chops, but the moody hook (“what would you do, baby? / I would run away with you”) splits the difference between garage and alternative R&B. Co-produced by the 1975’s George Daniel, ‘Feel Like My Hands Are On Fire’ is a lights-low finish that sees salute sing on record for the first time, using shuddering electronics and the vocal tenderness of a lullaby. The hard autotune and synth chords noticeably reek of the 1975 sound, but it does point to salute trying music away from the Rekordbox playlist, making the prospect of an LP from them in the future seem much more tangible.

Four Tet is a Massive Troll

No one saw them coming to close out the year’s Coachella, but Skrillex, Fred Again.. and Four Tet replaced Frank Ocean to bring their feverish hype as a trio to the desert. During the set, Four Tet exposed a brilliant quality he now has in his locker - his capacity to do the funniest thing ever.

The meme of him blasting HOL!’s tear-out dubstep track ‘Country Riddim’ in New York months ago was brought back during SkrillFredTetchella to a mix of disbelief and celebration. He did it again later on while crossing it with Fisher’s ‘Losing It’ - Twitter was doing the same.

It’s incredible how much Four Tet’s career has shot up to the big time in the past year, and with it, his ideas have become so much more widely beloved. His love for pop and contemporary R&B showed up in the same show when he played Ariana Grande’s ‘Into You’ and his edit of Taylor Swift’s ‘Love Story’. That's the thing; he was remixing the likes of Selena Gomez, Vanessa Carlton and Nelly Furtado years ago, and now the pop music of the 2000s is being reassessed by journalists and other DJs. Look at Milkfish’s recent Boiler Room and how they tore the roof off with Kelly Clarkson’s ‘Since U Been Gone’ - Four Tet opened the door for that to happen.

It’s a wonderful thing that Four Tet is this huge now. A man whose music is noted largely for its subtle beauties and slow micro-house flourishes is reaching unknown heights of success. Breathe it in - you’ll never see another producer of his ilk do this ever again.

x3Butterfly - Untitled 909 Mix #150

US/Mexican producer x3butterfly’s Untitled 909 mix asks you to follow her into a thriving basement party. With MC shouts fading in and out of earshot, she sets the atmosphere before getting into a workout of brooding speedy g, Detroit house, ambient swells and bull-in-a-China-shop amen breaks. Plus, there’s a superb accompanying interview with x3butterfly by Chanel Kadir about her eventful times in Detroit, Berlin, New York and Mexico.

Clubstep Radio 001 - Novelist

UK label Steppers Club and its main man Zefer have started a new show on Reprezent, and its first edition has a freestyle session with South London MC Novelist. His rhymes are more grounded and matter-of-fact, while Zefer deploys Steppers Club’s choppy, plinky sound to accompany it. There’s a moment where he stops and says, “I wanna express myself, you get me?”, before paying a compliment to selector Zefer - “I like the synths, man. This one’s special”. The session takes place an hour in and sets a high bar for an opening show.

Arma - ARMA002

Arma’s latest four-track gets introspective while keeping it all under the guise of club-friendly. On ARMA002, the London producer whisks up cosmic synth sequences and flips a lo-fi piano before pouring his heart out on ‘New Days’, quite possibly one of the most cutting club tracks of the year.

Speed Garage Bootleg of the Month: Sam Interface - Flashing Hype

This isn’t strictly speed garage, but Sam Interface’s ‘Flashing Hype’ has that same emphasis on a grilling bassline, and more to the point, this is one of the best bootlegs in recent memory. 'Flashing Hype' started life as a legendary unreleased ID before being released at the end of 2022, but when C.Frim played it at her Boiler Room set, it sent shockwaves through the crowd (there's a clip of the moment going viral on Instagram, with me in the comments IDing it). A gargantuan gqom edit of Kanye West’s ‘Flashing Lights’, the way it builds up quickly with laser synths and a hard clap into the drop inspires the very reaction that you see in that C.Frim video. Expect this to be a classic as the years go by.